Why Poor People Stay Poor

[crimsonaudio]

This is absolute truth - my wife and I spent the first seven years of our marriage like this. It's very expensive to be poor and your margin for error is razor-thin.

I'm thankful that we don't have to live like this anymore, but this is reality for lots of people. Hard-working, smart people who didn't have the lucky break some of us have had.

So if you haven't been there, if you haven't truly struggled for years on end, the next time you start speaking critically of someone who 'chooses to remain poor', think about this article.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/...ng_in_bootstrap_america_daily_annoyances.html

 

[NationalTitles18]

This is absolute truth - my wife and I spent the first seven years of our marriage like this. It's very expensive to be poor and your margin for error is razor-thin.

I'm thankful that we don't have to live like this anymore, but this is reality for lots of people. Hard-working, smart people who didn't have the lucky break some of us have had.

So if you haven't been there, if you haven't truly struggled for years on end, the next time you start speaking critically of someone who 'chooses to remain poor', think about this article.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/...ng_in_bootstrap_america_daily_annoyances.html

Thank you for sharing. If not for the help of others we'd have been sunk more than once. I might have been bad with money, but money was worse with me.

 

[tattooguy21]

I've been here. As a child growing up, we lived in a car for a bit, with friends or families at other times.

I've had a career 20 years and have, for the most part, NOTHING to show for it except stuff. No savings, but no debt either. Now, as I'm thinking of retiring and starting a new career, I'm hoping that I can get my crap together.

I can honestly say that one of my greatest fears in life is being homeless again. It was only the briefest of stints, but it was apparently long enough to have an impact.

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[GrayTide]

Thanks, Brad. While I have never been that close I know good people who have and few understand their plight. It is a shame that most people, especially our politicians, who believe these people are content being poor, getting welfare and living off the government. They need to "walk in their shoes" for a while.

 

[Bazza]

Just my opinion but I will also add it always seems that folks who are low on income are smokers, drinkers, and have more than 2 children.

Many also seem to shop at convenience stores on a daily basis.

And eat at fast food joints.

Sorry - I don't mean to come off as judgemental or lecturing....but I never did any of that stuff when I was in my 20's and trying to get my act together. Nor have I done it since because it's expensive and in many cases wasteful.

 

[crimsonaudio]

Just my opinion but I will also add it always seems that folks who are low on income are smokers, drinkers, and have more than 2 children.

Many also seem to shop at convenience stores on a daily basis.

And eat at fast food joints.

Sorry - I don't mean to come off as judgemental or lecturing....but I never did any of that stuff when I was in my 20's and trying to get my act together. Nor have I done it since because it's expensive and in many cases wasteful.

That's addressed in this article (and I assume much more in her book). There are reasons for this, and it's not just people being wasteful or self-destructive.

 

[NationalTitles18]

Just my opinion but I will also add it always seems that folks who are low on income are smokers, drinkers, and have more than 2 children.

Many also seem to shop at convenience stores on a daily basis.

And eat at fast food joints.

Sorry - I don't mean to come off as judgemental or lecturing....but I never did any of that stuff when I was in my 20's and trying to get my act together. Nor have I done it since because it's expensive and in many cases wasteful.

Thank heavens you didn't mean to....

I have to wonder just how many poor people you actually ​know.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

I have been poor. I have lived pay check to pay check. I learned how not to over spend by losing my job back when everyone lost their jobs in 2008/2009. My car broke down during this time. It was so bad I gave serious thought to faking my death (not kidding at all). I was very depressed and angry all the time. I posted something on here once that became a post of the week and a sticky for a while. I honestly have no idea how I survived and did not end up homeless. Now I make a very good living but I still spend like I am poor. I have developed this reputation for being cheap with my current coworkers. Things are going very well. I think I have turned a corner and for the first time in my life I have no financial worries. I am constantly aware that things can change drastically and suddenly. I feel for people who have no choice but to live like this.

 

[Bazza]

Thank heavens you didn't mean to....

I have to wonder just how many poor people you actually ​know.

Thanks for not being judgemental yourself!

Actually I see low income people every day.

Thus, my comments based on observation.

Did you think I just made that up?

Of course there are exceptions....thanks for point that out.

 

[Bazza]

That's addressed in this article (and I assume much more in her book). There are reasons for this, and it's not just people being wasteful or self-destructive.

I agree. Thanks.

 

[AUDub]

I borrowed this article to post on another forum. An excellent glimpse into the struggle of the working poor.

It sucks. In a country as prosperous as ours, folks that work their ... off should not struggle to feed and clothe their families.

 

[AUDub]

Thank heavens you didn't mean to....

I have to wonder just how many poor people you actually ​know.

The poison of Ayn Rand doing its work. Rationalize the "parasites" as deserving of their plight.

 

[NationalTitles18]

Thanks for not being judgemental yourself!

Actually I see low income people every day.

Thus, my comments based on observation.

Did you think I just made that up?

Of course there are exceptions....thanks for point that out.

Good try all around, but you should know that seeing and knowing are entirely different beasts. I know people similar to what you describe. I know people who, except for being poor, are nothing like you describe. Some smoke like chimneys. Some are alcoholics. Some are habitual drug users. Most are hard working. Some have never smoked, or drank alcohol (that I'm aware), or used drugs. The church I grew up attending was full of them.

When my dad lost his job of 17 years because the plant shut down, we were in their ranks. BTW, my mom still believes one drink of alcohol will send you to hades and they both plan on not going there. (I no longer share that belief, in case anyone was wondering)

IOW, my experiences - which have been much more intimate than seeing folks come and go at the local convenience store and speaking about those experiences on internet forums, possibly on occasion with like-minded people on said forums or at Trump rallies - have given me a better insight on people who are poor than someone who has had little to no natural real-life experience living among the poor.

I have no doubt you have earned everything you have, just as I have. Just think - we could have both been born in Afghanistan or Iraq or Kenya or Ethiopia to poor parents with no education and little to no hope of ever living a better life due to circumstances far beyond our control. Or we could both come from families where education wasn't valued or that had no father/mother to care for us or maybe the IQ was not far above average or so on and so forth. Our circumstances could have been completely different and maybe then neither of us is in America or if we are then it's a completely different experience.

I think about that and realize how fortunate I am. Others, when they think about it, think it's because they are so much better than those people.

I know some of those people. I was those people. So forgive me if I don't take fondly to ignorant self-righteous sanctimonious ideas from others. I'm sure every one of us is associated with something about which we don't want to be stereotyped in a negative way. Unfortunately, there are always those who make the stereotype seem true.

 

[NationalTitles18]

The poison of Ayn Rand doing its work. Rationalize the "parasites" as deserving of their plight.

Imagine that: A grossly mischaracterized oversimplification.

 

[tidegrandpa]

My Pop and his family lost their home in '33 when he was 12 and on the street. He told me that story when I was young and repeated frequently.
Did not want his kids in that boat and so far by the Grace of God none of us have.


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[Tide1986]

I have to wonder just how many poor people you actually ​know.

I knew my grandparents.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I had to live in some awfully rough places for a while, with no cushion, so I know first hand what it feels like. I saw my dad lose his job when I was ten because the plant closed and production moved overseas, which is an ongoing process. I got a bike for Christmas that year, although my dad had had a major heart attack in August. I understood that I received it because they didn't think he would be alive the next December 16, my birthday. I also have good, close friends originally from the ghetto, who understand that people patronize convenience stores because there are no vegetables available within many unrealistic miles. Through it all, I still had family. The ones I really feel for are those whose families are not in a position to support, no matter how much they may want to. In particular, I'm thinking of the foster kids who "age out" of the system with nowhere to go and no job. It's a wonder more don't become homeless. When I see poor and homeless, my thoughts will always be "There, but for the grace of God, go I." It'll never be "Why doesn't that lazy bum get a job"...

 

[AUDub]

Imagine that: A grossly mischaracterized oversimplification.

Her dislike for the poor and weak was couched in terms of Social Darwinistic moralizing. Her concepts, once you got into the details and beyond broad aphorisms, were fairy tales. Fairy tales even she herself failed to follow. She was an awful human being, an utterly selfish shrew and a hypocrite to boot.

She earned her opprobrium.

 

[NationalTitles18]

I had to live in some awfully rough places for a while, with no cushion, so I know first hand what it feels like. I saw my dad lose his job when I was ten because the plant closed and production moved overseas, which is an ongoing process. I got a bike for Christmas that year, although my dad had had a major heart attack in August. I understood that I received it because they didn't think he would be alive the next December 16, my birthday. I also have good, close friends originally from the ghetto, who understand that people patronize convenience stores because there are no vegetables available within many unrealistic miles. Through it all, I still had family. The ones I really feel for are those whose families are not in a position to support, no matter how much they may want to. In particular, I'm thinking of the foster kids who "age out" of the system with nowhere to go and no job. It's a wonder more don't become homeless. When I see poor and homeless, my thoughts will always be "There, but for the grace of God, go I." It'll never be "Why doesn't that lazy bum get a job"...

I was 12 when the plant my dad worked at closed. It was hard times right on through graduation. Would have been tougher had he been killed on that job a few years prior (came very close and unfortunately 2 others did die).

My wife spent part of her formative years in the ghetto. Her mother often worked two jobs, much like my dad. Much like myself.

Heck, I make as much or more from my current "second job" (really just a little extra work at another location at the request of my employer) than I made 10 years ago working for three employers. I may be a better person now, depending on whom you ask, but it's not because I make more money.

I was fortunate to have parents and that they were willing and able to help. I'm literally still paying some of that back and it has taken several years to dig out of the hole we were in.

Thing is, the people who are unable to dig out are covered in everything that holds them back: bad credit, lawsuits, bankruptcy, lack of good references for good jobs and/or rentals, inability to afford clothes and tools for jobs, lack of education, and so on. It is hard to dig out. It's impossible if you don't have the tools to do it. Sure, just as some people who have money did absolutely nothing to earn it there are some who could dig out that don't. It's not safe to assume those things are true of everyone. Not when 63% of Americans are one paycheck away from homelessness.

 

[NationalTitles18]

Her dislike for the poor and weak was couched in terms of Social Darwinistic moralizing. Her concepts, once you got into the details and beyond broad aphorisms, were fairy tales. Fairy tales even she herself failed to follow. She was an awful human being, an utterly selfish shrew and a hypocrite to boot.

She earned her opprobrium.

Meh, she was admittedly selfish and the unbridled selfishness of humans - of which I imagine she was keenly aware for good reason - was part of her "message". Chances are she did dislike the poor. Not too different from many others of all political stripes. Truth be told, I almost feel a knee-jerk reaction to defend her but it doesn't really matter (even though she was speaking there less of the poor and more of those who chose to live off the labor of others to illustrate a point). Every "pure" political ideology is a fairy tale. Every not so pure political ideology is a fairy tale. None of them lead to Utopia (I do miss that game). All of them are doomed to failure under the right circumstance, mainly from the failures of human character - something about which she was spot on (the failures of human character, that is).